Marine fender



Jan. 5, 1943. v

f H. w. BELL' MARINEl FENDER Filed aan. 24, 1940 I nventor HarryI W; Bell.

Gttomeg Patented Jan. 5, 1943 1 MARINE FENDER Harry `W. Bell, Seattle, Wash., assigner to Durable Mat Company, Seattle, `Wasl1.,a corporation of Washington Application January 24, 1940, Serial No. 315,347

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to marine fenders of lthe general type shown in the patent to C. T. lLyons, No. 1,981,182, of November 20, I1,934, and the general principles of which are also shown. in the reissue patent to Lyons No. 18,672.

Such m-arine fenders are mounted, for instance,

Vat the bow of a tugboat, lto enable it to nose along a 'barge or a vessel. They are subjected to severe usage. As inthe Lyons patents referred to above, it is my object here to make such fenders of slabs of resilient material, for instance pieces cut from discarded or worn-out tire c-asings, because such material has been found to serve well under such severe usage. It wears well, it is rendered nonskid to a high degree when the -cut edges of the .slabs are placed to denne the inner and outer wear surfaces of the fender, and it ancrds a very Aconsiderable degree of resilience because of the rubber content, but certain drawbacks were .found to exist in the form of construction disclosed in l the prior patents, and it is an object of the present invention to Vavoid these `drawbacks and disadvantages, and in particular to provide a form of construction for such fenders which will retain .all their advantages, yet will make the fender stronger,longer wearing, and cheaper in rst cost and as to expense over a period of time.

Fenders constructed in accordance with the Lyons Patent No. '1,981,182 were generallyconstru'ctedeachto vthe measurement of a particular vessel, for'the .reason that they were so strongly constructed and so slightly iiexible or variable in shape that they could not .conform readily to different shapes of vessels bows and the like, nor, moreover, could they vconform readily to surface irregularities .such as the .guards of the vessels whereon they were mounted. It is accordingly a further object of .the invention to construct fenders of thisgeneral type, which will have suilicient resilience vthat 'they can accommodate themselves .to .a suilicient degree to such surface variations, and to variations of the form and shape ofbows such ras `will render the fenders standardized units, tobe 'sold for general application, rather than a product which must be built to measure "for .a particular installation only.

,It is also an object, as has been suggested above, by simplifying the construction, and by simplifying the number and variety of fenders that have to lbe made, and by making given fenders applicable to various vessels, to lessen the rst vcost `oit' such fenders materially,

With these and other objects in mind, as will appear hereafter, my invention comprises the novel 'fender construction, the principles whereof are illustrated in the `accompanying drawing, described in Ythis specification, and will be more particularly pointediout in theclaims which are found at the-end lof vvthis specification.

In the accompanying drawing the principles of my invention 'have been illustrated embodied in a typical form, but various modifications in the form, character, and arrangement of the fender and ofthe parts thereof vmay be made without departing froml the spirit of my invention.

Figure l is a plan view lof a vessels stem, showing such a fender as a bow fender applied thereto.

'Figure 2 is a vside lelevation of the same, and Figure 3 is a front View of the same.

Figure 4 is a plan view showing Va modified arrangement.

The present 'fender consists of a plurality of individual 'slabs l or'length of resilient material, more lor less flat, and usually having somewhat greater length than breadth. As has been indicated above, such .pieces are conveniently made of discarded rtire casings, and their size and vshape is governed bythe size and shape of the tire from which "they are cut. They may be pieces cutfrom'theside vwalls or pieces cut from 'the tread, and lin a given fender some 'of the slabs'may be `from the sidewalls and some from the tread. Indeed,xthe .individual slabs may include both sidewall :and tread portions. .For

certain pudding sections 'the slabs may be cut entirely across ,the .casing from bead to bead, with the beads, however, cutaway, and if such sections :are cut from the extremely large tires of farm tractors, for instance, a very'appreciable depth vof pudding may be attained with a slab cut from a single tire. Otherwise, to increase the depth of the pudding, the slabs may be laid lin edge-to-edge relationship, .as will be pointed out.

Such .slabs are placed in courses, in face-toface relationship, and since it Awill usually be found that no vone slab has `suiiicient length to include `the entire extent of the fender, such slabs are normally Lplaced also in end-to-end relationship, with the joints broken in Iadjoining courses. No particular pattern of laying, no regularity of length, is necessary or desirable. The various slabs are laid hat, or `approximately so, in broken courses, in the form of the desired fender, and .suitable means hold them in this form. The height of thefender is immaterial, but `usually about two feet. If greater height is needed several `fenders are superposed,

The slabs are held together in this form, .and

as a matter of fact, in constructing the fender, are threaded upon rods or similar tension members 2, which extend through the individual slabs, and through the fender, transversely to the faces of the slabs. By providing heads 3 upon the rods 2, and by providing nuts 4 and Washers received upon their opposite ends, these bolts clamp together the slabs and hold them tightly in faceto-face relationship, preventing undue or appreciable separation of the faces of the slabs, and therefore preventing undue separation of the exposed edges of the slabs, which edges cooperate to define the inner and outer faces of the fender as a whole.

It is preferred that the planes of the slabs, that is, the extent of the courses, be perpendicular to the direction of principal strain, and that the tension members parallel the line of principal compression. Since such fenders Sometimes contact piling which extends more or less vertically, it is preferable that the courses extend horizontally. In consequence the rods 2 extend generally vertically. These rods are spaced horizontally by desired distances, such distances being generally determined by the average length of the slabs, or by the length of the shortest such slab. Preferably the rods are spaced no farther than su'icient to permit at least two rods to be threaded through each slab, although there will be places where it is necessary to fill in with short slabs or pieces which may be threaded upon only a single rod, for it is desired that the fender be solidly constructed, without appreciable interstices between slabs, either horizontally or vertically.

A further reason why such slabs of tire casing material are desirable, in addition tov their quality of resilience and elasticity, is that they incorporate layers or sheets of fabric embedded within the rubber. This fabric may be the loosely connected cord fabric, or woven fabric, or both, but since the slabs are employed in the fender with cut edges innermost and outermost,

Uli

the exposed and cut fabric aiords an excellent non-skid and Wear-resisting medium, serving to prevent slippage of the fender relative to the tugs skin and relative to the skin of the barge, vessel, pile, Stringer or what-not that it contacts. In addition the present of the tough fiber prevents undue disintegration of. the exposed rubber composition by abrasion.

One of the essential features of the present invention resides in the fact that the rods 2 are totally independent of one another and unconnected, except through the slabs I themselves. In the fenders of the Lyons patents it was conceived that because the fender Was to be subjected to severe usage it Was necessary to construct it strongly, with a steel skeleton consisting of parallel rods and connecting links or heavy bars. It was found in use that such fenders. however stoutly they might be constructed, would still be broken by the stresses imposed upon them, and that, because of the limitations upon the resilience of the rubber imposed by the bars or links connecting the rods, the fender was not sufficiently resilient, or at least was not resilient to the full extent that might be expected, due to the rubber content.

Rubber, when compressed, must flow, and when it is not permitted to flow, it loses its resilience. Moreover, if it is compressed along a vertical line and tends to ow horizontally (the tight clamping of the slabs together prevents to a considerable degree any'flowing vertically), if

it is prevented from flowing horizontally by links connecting the rods, occasionally such links will be overtaxed and will break.' It was found that this was occurring with the Lyons type of fender, and, moreover, .that such broken links would not be discovered immediately, and would themselves tend to destroy the slabs adjacent them, and that the fender would thus disintegrate from within, within a short period of time. It is, therefore, one of the essential distinctions of the present invention that the rods 2 be completely unconnected except as they are connected by the slabs themselves.

Thus connected, when the fender is compressed between the stem of the tug which carries it and a barge or pile, the compression is generally along a vertical line, parallel to the rods, and intermediate two rods. The rubber composition, compressed thus, tends to flow horizontally. The rods separate somewhat, as they could not if their separation was restrained by links, but immediately upon removal of the compressive force the resilience of the rubber restores the rods to their former relationship and spacing.

It should be pointed out here that while the rods are relatively sti and inflexible, this quality is not essential, for cables may be substituted for the rods, such cables having limited ilexibility, and indeed, this might be a desirable substitution in view of the fact that the fenders can then adjust themselves slightly better to surface irregularities of the vessel whereon they are mounted.

The fender might be supported in any convenient manner; for instance, if the fender were made sufficiently strong or were sufficiently light, it might be supported by a link embedded between two courses, encircling the rearmost rod, and projecting outwardly of the fender for engagement by a suitable supporting cable or the like. However, such fenders are usually too heavy and the rubber has not sufficient strength to enable the entire fender lto be supported in this fashion. It is therefore preferable to support the fender by a cable which more or less encircles the fender as a whole, and which draws it rearwardly to points of securement aft of the ends of the Wing. Thus the support might be a cable Which is wholly separate from the fender, or such a cable might be merely embedded somewhat in the softer rubber of the fenders outer wearing surface, and then led aft.l Onthe'other hand, and preferably,- the support is in the nature of a cable or the like, which is embedded between courses, which engages certain or all of the rods 2, but which is not connected to any of the rods, or at least to not more than one such rod, for instance that one 'which is centrally located in the pudding, and from this single point of securement the cable 5 is led aft, through each of the wings, either outside of all the rods 2 or interwoven between the rods. If interwoven between the rods, in order toavoid binding it is preferable that the rods be somewhat staggered in position, so that'the'cableV is'kept, as nearly as may be, straightjn order that it will not4 bind, and in order that the rods'may separateunder compressive stress,-without' appreciable resistance thereto arising by reasonl of the cable. At its ends the cable 5 projects outside ,the fender, and may be formed in a' loop 6 for securement of an eye8 ora similar' means at the .end cfa cable l, the latter of which is suitably secured on deck or at the rail.` .l f. Y The iendershown in Figures '1, 2, andhas'I tier of slabs extending transversely between the wing tiers at the apex of the V fender to form a pudding which is not appreciably thicker than the wings. If a thicker pudding is desired, however, the same principles of construction may be employed to extend the pudding forwardly, slabs IG being laid fore and aft ahead of the Wings, and connected crosswise by a further tier of transverse slabs 9, in the manner illustrated in Figure 4. An extra wide slab in occasional courses may overlie the slabs l and both.

No particular pattern need be followed in laying up the slabs in courses. It is only sufficient that they be laid in such a manner that the fender is reasonably solid throughout, and that there are suiiicient slabs connecting adjoining but spaced rods to form of the fender an integral whole.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A marine fender comprising a plurality of approximately flat pieces of tire casing material of appreciable width and length laid in face-toface relationship, and in coplanar substantially end abutting relationship, in the form Iof a sub-- stantially imperforate, solid fender wherein stresses are transmitted from one .piece to the adjoining pieces, and wherein the opposite edges of the pieces define the inner and outer wear surfaces of the fender, and tension members extending transversely through the individual pieces, and hence through the fender, generally parallel to its wear surfaces, the several tension members being yieldingly connected to each other solely by the tire casing pieces themselves.

2. A marine fender comprising a plurality of approximately flat pieces of tire casing material of appreciable width and length, laid in horizontal courses in face-to-face relationship, and in coplanar substantially end abutting relationship, in the form of a fender wherein the opposite edges of the pieces define the inner and outer wear surfaces of the fender, tension members extending through the individual pieces, and hence through the fender generally parallel to its wear surfaces, means upon the tension members to hold the pieces tightly together and to prevent appreciable deformation of the fender in a vertical direction, and means to support the fender in operative position comprising a further tension member extending transversely of said first tension members between their ends and engaged with at least one thereof, and embedded between two courses.

3. A marine fender comprising a plurality of approximately flat slabs of tire casing material laid up in broken horizontal courses in face-toface and coplanar end abutting relationship, in the form of a fender the inner and outer wear surfaces whereof are defined by the exposed edges of the slabs, spaced rods extending vertically through the slabs, at intervals, and yieldingly interconnected solely by the slabs themselves, means upon the rods to clamp the slabs tightly together, and to prevent appreciable deformation of the fender in a vertical direction, and a cable encircling the fender and engaged with certain of said rods, and extending outwardly of the fender as a support for the fender.

4. A marine fender consisting of a plurality of rods spaced apart, a plurality of iiat slabs of tire casing material, eachl of a length to include a plurality cf rods, and to constitute the sole connection between the rods, but each of insuicient length to include the entire set of rods, said slabs being threaded upon the rods in face-to-fa'ce and coplanar substantially end abutting relationship, to constitute a substantially imperforate and solid fender of a desired shape, means to hold the slabs thus against appreciable separation engthwise of the rods, while leaving the fender free to yield transversely of the rods to the extent permitted by the slabs themselves, and means engaged with selected rods only for supporting the fender. l

5. A marine fender consisting of a plurality of rods spaced apart, a. plurality of flat slabs of tire casing material, each of a length to include a plurality of rods, and to constitute the sole connection between the ro-ds, but each of insuilicient length to include the entire set of rods, said slabs being threaded upon the rods in face-to-face and coplanar substantially end abutting relationship, to constitute a substantially imperforate and solid fender of a desired shape, and a cable embedded within the fender, between two courses of slabs, engaged with the outer faces of, but not connected to, certain rods, and encircling the fender, the cable having ends projecting from the fender adjacent the latters ends, for supporting engagement.

6. A marine fender comprising a plurality of slabs of tire casing material laid up in horizontal courses in face to face relationship in the form of a fender, the inner and cuter wear surfaces whereof are deiined by the exposed edges of the slabs, a plurality of rods extending vertically through the slabs, and disposed in staggered spaced relationship, means upon the rods to clamp the slabs tightly together, and a cable extending horizontally through the fender embedded between adjacent courses of said slabs, interwoven between the staggered rods to lie substantially parallel to the wear surfaces of the fender, and projecting beyond the ends of the fender for engagement to support the fender.

7. A marine fender comprising a plurality of slabs of tire casing material laid up in horizontal courses in face to face relationship in the form of a fender of V shape, the outer and inner wear surfaces whereof are defined by the exposed edges of the slabs, and including a tier of slabs extending transversely between the adjacent ends of the fender wings at the apex of the V fender, a second tier of transverse slabs parallel and adjacent to said first tier and on the side thereof opposite the fender wings, slabs of tire casing material interlaid with and extending between said two tiers of transverse slabs, and spaced rods extending vertically through each of the tiers of transverse slabs and through the interlaid interconnecting slabs to hold all such slabs in stacked position.

HARRY W. BEIL. 

